The global emergence of new materials and conductive textiles is expanding the capabilities of electronics with the ability to be integrated seamlessly into existing environments. Smart sensors improved the capability for everyday objects as a source of collecting electronic information by way of a connected device to the digital world. With the advancement of electronics through smart textiles, these materials have been used in many settings to create different types of sensors to derive information from the surrounding environment of the electronic devices. These sensors generally require 3 layers which include 2 layers of conductive materials separated by a middle layer, no different than a conventional circuit with a power source, a load for resistance, and a path to ground. When current passes from the first conductive layer through the middle resistive layer to the second conductive layer, the middle resistive layer acts as a bridge connecting a circuit so that a presence or an absence of pressure can be detected.
Another example of smart sensing is a grid of capacitive elements to form a capacitive sensor that is configured to be used, in one example, to detect touch-input. The interactive textile can process the touch-input to generate signal information from light contact that is used in controlling various devices and generally determines input of binary signals as related to the speed of electricity to travel in completion of a circuit, and not variability in the amount of pressure or force applied from the touch at each intersection on the conductive grid.
Pressure sensors face challenges related to drift/creep of signals increasing from coming into contact or through wear over an extended period. Different calibration techniques vary including direct intervention for recalibration or through normalization techniques of the signal output.
Monitoring systems and methods used to monitor health in some methods of smart monitoring require a sensor or sensors with limited form factors to be placed underneath a mattress, an arrangement that is less accurate in detecting placement of objects, positioning, and movement. Since the sensor is placed underneath the mattress, weight from external environmental factors would be distributed and would result in biased signal output.
Additional difficulties with existing systems, conductive fabrics and textiles may be appreciated in view of the Detailed Description of Example Embodiments, herein below.